Thursday, 29 December 2011

Visa - Part III (Final)

All right, so you have successfully submitted your application and payed its fee. Now you have to send them your chest X-Ray exam. The reason you have to do this exam, according to the New Zealand embassy website, is because some countries (Brazil included) still have high rates of tuberculosis cases1. And, as we know, tuberculosis is highly contagious. I guess that's the main reason on why New Zealand obligates you to do the exam.

You can't do your exam anywhere. It must be a place recognized by New Zealand2. I made my exam in Curitiba at Instituto Forlanini3. It cost me R$ 45.00. The exam is very quick (takes about 10 minutes). After that you just have to come back in a couple of hours to get the papers.

I have seen some people on the Internet saying that they payed R$ 200.00 in Porto Alegre and in São Paulo, for the same exact exam. In those cases, I believe it's cheaper to go to Curitiba and make the exams there. You take the exam on the same day (that is, no need to pay for hotels or anything similar) and, in the bargain, you will get to know a little that great city! =P

With your exam ready, it's time to send it to the New Zealand embassy in Brasília. Remember that you don't need to send the X-Ray itself. You only have to send the sealed envelope they give you.

In my case, I sent it using the Correios (Brazil's national mail company). Even though they were on strike, the exams still arrived in the embassy (from Curitiba) in just 3 days by SEDEX4. It cost me R$ 35.00. If they weren't on strike, the deadline for the deliver would be just 1 working day by SEDEX.

I have seen stories on the Internet of people that sent their exams directly to New Zealand. Personally, I don't see any advantage of doing that. First, because you will pay a lot more unnecessarily. Second, because it takes more time to get to New Zealand (and if they don't receive your exams in 15 days, your time is up!). I am still trying to find a reason on why a few people prefer to send the exams directly to New Zealand (I guess some people just don't trust the embassy for that... who knows?). In my case, everything went well and I don't have any complains about the embassy.

After you send your exam, all you have to do is wait. In my case, the response only took about 1 week after they receive the exams! You will find that you were approved by visiting the Immigration website. You will also receive an email telling you that you are approved, but it takes some hours to come.

So, we have come trough the end of the visa series. Don't hesitate in sending me your questions if you have any. I will be glad to answer them!!

See you!




## Glossary & Links ##

1) http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/DD2D2D27-DD49-4A62-96CC-3A1F32223C8E/0/1121.pdf
2) http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/general/generalinformation/qanda/whsonline.htm
3) http://institutoforlanini.com.br/
4) SEDEX: Serviço de Encomenda Expressa (http://www.correios.com.br/SEDEX)

Insurance

You must have insurance for the time you will spend in New Zealand. Even though you can get some ACC1 help if something happens to you, you are still required to own insurance the day you arrive in New Zealand2.

I have passed the past week reading the terms of agreement of a number of insurances. I decided to choose the Orbit Protect3 insurance, mainly because of its killer price.

On total, I payed NZ$ 285.00 for the 1 year cover. That is R$ 415.23 (IOF included).

Another plus is that Orbit is a New Zealand insurance company. Most of the insurances I saw had their headquarters located in the US. I preferred to choose a local one.

Applying for the insurance is a piece of cake. All you have to do is fill out the form here4 (yes, it is another website), pay the fee (I used a credit card for that) and wait. For me, all the process was completed in about 2 hours! In the end, you receive an email with your certificate of insurance.

That's it!! If you have any queries, feel free to ask!

Take care!!


## Glossary & links ##

1) ACC: Accident Compensation Corporation (http://www.acc.co.nz/)
2) http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/work/workingholiday/brazilwhs.htm
3) http://www.orbitprotect.com/
4) http://travelnzinsurance.com/new-zealand-working-holiday-insurance?producer=orbitprotect

Monday, 12 December 2011

Quote of the week - IV

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." 
Mahatma Gandhi